From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Socioeconomics or
socio-economics is the study of the relationship
between economic
activity and social
life. The field is often considered multidisciplinary, using theories
and methods from sociology, economics, history, psychology, and many others. It has emerged
as a separate field of study in the late twentieth century. In many
cases, however, socioeconomists focus on the social impact of some
sort of economic change. Such changes might include a closing
factory, market manipulation, the signing of
international trade treaties, new natural gas regulation, etc. Such social
effects can be wide-ranging in size, anywhere from local effects on
a small community to changes to an entire society.

Examples of causes of socioeconomic impacts include new
technologies such as cars or mobile phones,
changes in laws, changes in the physical environment (such as
increasing crowding within cities), and ecological changes (such as prolonged drought or declining fish stocks). These may affect
patterns of consumption, the distribution of incomes and wealth, the way in which people
behave (both in terms of purchase decisions and the way in which
they choose to spend their time), and the overall quality of
life.

Although harder to measure, changes in less-tangible factors are
also considered, such as personal dignity, freedom of association, personal
safety and freedom from fear of physical harm, and the extent of
participation in civil society.